Created by Elmore Leonard (1925-2013) Now here's something you rarely hear crime writing legend Elmore Leonard credited with.... Cindy Fazzi, author of a series of novels about Domingo, a modern day bounty hunter, suggests that that "pop culture has long mythologized and even romanticized" the occupation, and suggests that Leonard himself helped popularize the profession … Continue reading Dave Flynn
Tag: Mexico
Terrance McGowan
Created by Roger Torrey Pseudonyms include Sam Drake, Samuel Drake, John Ryan, R.D. Torrey (1901-46) Another one-shot private eye from the pen of pulpster Roger Torrey, TERRANCE McGOWAN first popped up in the longish novella "Please Locate Murder" in the February 1944 issue of Super-Detective. It was the cover story, in fact. Formerly a cop, McGowan … Continue reading Terrance McGowan
Jimmy Burns
Created by Charles Portis (1933-2020) "Christmas again in Yucatán. Another year gone and I still scratching around this limestone peninsula." Best known for his classic (and bestselling) Western, 1968's True Grit, genre-hopping author Charles Portis never quite got around to writing a private eye novel. But 1991's character-driven, tongue-in-cheek Gringos comes awfully close. JIMMY BURNS … Continue reading Jimmy Burns
Down in Mexico
Mexican Eyes A motley collection of native-born gumshoes and ex-pats. Tom Blane by Louis Trimble (Mexico City) El Borbah by Charles Burns Jimmy Burns by Charles Portis (Yucatán) Al Colby by David Dodge (Mexico City) Nick Grande by Bob Chinn (a "wide open city") Luke Fischer by Craig Terlson (Puerto Vallarta) Mike Land by Fred … Continue reading Down in Mexico
Mariano Mercado
Created by D.L. Champion (1903-68) The only thing that bothers Mexico City private eye MARIANO MERCADO more than germs is... MURDER! Billing himself as a detectivo particular, Mercado appeared in eight novelettes in Dime Detective, between 1944 and 1948. The stories were narrated by Latham who seems to be the North American assistant of Mercado. … Continue reading Mariano Mercado
Luke Fischer
Created by Craig Terlson "I ran into Franko Toledo three weeks ago while searching for a delinquent husband in Santa Fe. Truth was, his last name wasn’t Toledo. That’s just where he came from: Toledo, Spain... I never got Franko’s real last name until I saw it on his hospital bracelet." -- the first lines … Continue reading Luke Fischer
Hector Belascoarán Shayne
Created by Paco Ignacio Taibo II (1949- ) "It was a joke. just one hell of a big joke. Thinking that he could be a detective in Mexico. It was crazy." --Hector ponders his chosen profession in An Easy Thing Mexico City's one-eyed HECTOR BELASCOARÁN SHAYNE (his mother was an Irish folksinger, and his father … Continue reading Hector Belascoarán Shayne
Al Colby
Created by David Dodge (1910-74) David Dodge's second series character, AL COLBY, is a private eye based in, of all places, Mexico City. Even more notable, perhaps, is that this tough guy's adventures also took him throughout Central and South America--pretty much uncharted teritory for hard-boiled detective fiction at the time. He is a norteamericano, … Continue reading Al Colby
J.J. McGonigle (The Come-On)
Created by Whitman Chambers(1896-1968) He's not the star of this rarely seen B-flick, but Jesse White (TV's Maytag repairman for over thirty years) as smarmy, corrupt private eye J.J. McGONIGLE is definitely worth checking out in The Come-On, a twisty/turny 1956 film noir from second string studio Allied Artists. Anne Baxter plays the hottie here; … Continue reading J.J. McGonigle (The Come-On)
Mike Land (Land’s End)
Created by Fred Dryer & Victor A. Schiro and Peter Gethers & David Handler For your consideration, I humbly submit to your list of TV eyes the name MIKE LAND of the syndicated series Land's End which ran during the 1995-96 season. Mike, played by Fred Dryer, of Hunter fame, is a retired L.A.P.D. detective … Continue reading Mike Land (Land’s End)